#i think 3 of my pens are actually destroyed now

[kata-the-bee]

I drew @eliza-forget 's AMAZING Shamura design because I love her Shamura design so much-

[eri-pl]

Lots of super interesting thoughts!!! I'll probably keep rotating them in my head for some time.BTW sorry for replying to you like in an old-school email, but it's the most convenient here.

There seems to be some in-world mythological confusion about what "the end of the world" even means, similarly how "the Void" can be either the interstellar void or the void outside of Existence

Oh, yes. The void is also confusing. And think this is not wholly unrelated. Limits of time; limits of space. [Reminds me of how @eloquentsisyphianturmoil said that the Door of Night is related to the Halls of Mandos, those two discussions have the same vibe for me — oh wait, they are related!

Because if end of Ea = Morgoth jumps in = it destroys the Halls somehow (I still don't quite like it but not for factual reasons)… OK, are the Halls of Mandos Arda-specific? This feels like a moot question, because only on Arda there are Men and Elves— or are we certain about it?

There's a whole bag of worms here.

We know that Elves are bound to Arda for as long as it lasts, but the Ainur are instead bound to Ëa.

Yes, but it's a scale issue. There is still the question of what do they do when Ea ends. But yes, you are right that this may be read as separate question from the Second Music.

Also, Athrabeth is late writings, adjacent to the round-Arda-from-the-start and generally, more scientific vibe, so I guess here we're talking a bit more like "the sun dies out" end of Arda... maybe.

Also also, I need to check what are the Valar bound to, I think it may have been "various Ainur for various planets, bound to them".

OK, my Silm says "World", so… I'm not sure. BoLT is even more vague. Also I only now realized that the part where I've drawn a smiley face on my Silm and on my BoLT are probably evolutions of the same point in text. :) <3 [yes I do underline and comment on some books. In pencil! Or eraseable ballpoint pen. I did it with non-eraseable pen when I was a kid, and staying in the thematic area of this post, iirc my copy of CSL's "the last battle" had a certain sentence or couple of them underlined back in the time when I thought they were cool and not "you should have taken some lessons from John and learn what to omit"… I'm not even sure what is my opinion now tbh. anyway back to the post.]

The First Music created the whole universe, but apparently the Second Music is not played after the end of that universe, only the end of Arda

This may be a version incompatibility issue, and I think it is, because myy intuition for what Tolkien wanted says "Second Music after/at the end of Ea".

Though just like with some other ideas, I could probably make it work, as long as we throw away the "Arda is our mythic prehistory" I think I could roll with this… But not n any particularly canon way… Hmm. Needs more thought. You people keep saying very interesting things recently! <3 (Even more interesting than usual)

Which makes me think that the Second Music is not a separate thing (as in, another work of art), but an extension of the First.

I've always assumed it's more like a reprise than an unrelated work.

neither is it limited to the Timeless Halls (which would exclude not only the Elves

I think this is based on an assumption that the Silmarillion does not confirm or deny.

I generally treat the term "Music" as quite abstract, the closes thing to what actually happened that the Incarnates could comprehend. I imagine the Second Music for people living in Time to be just that - living. The whole life makes the Music.

Oh, I love the last sentence!

Not necessarily the whole construct of Arda ends → Second Music → Ea ends much later. On the other hand, I have no idea on what version Tolkien settled or would settle, and I can see where this would be coming from, also, funnily—

OK, a short summary of a large interpretational idea, which can probably be detalized in many various ways— Arda as our mythical past, but as in "our actual world [is/is made of/whatever] the Second Music".

Or, you know, like in an album (I'm not thinking about Les Mis, you're thinking about Les Mis) where you have song1, song2,… many songs and then a reprise that is like a medley of all those and, like, closes all of them.

I didn't have enough sleep, so excuse me if that's too chaotic to read. Also I'm bad at thinking about Silm canon without making a lot of assumptions. I hope other people, who are better at it, will add their thoughts about what you wrote too.

Hmm sometime later I should look at all the replies I got on this (I love them) and write a summary of our thoughts. This would be nice to have.

Let's discuss:

What do you think: what happens to the Valar after Arda breaks (or whatever it does, anyway it ends somehow)?

(Or should I say "what will happen"? But for fictional end-of-the-world present tense feels more natural to me. I'm not sure why.)

Both in the terms of "what Tolkien intended at various points of his career" and of "what makes the most sense with the Legendarium". With whatever version.

Let's ignore Morgoth (and Sauron etc), assume they've been dealt with in some way that works (if you prefer this including "Sauron is good now", ok, why not) and that no other Ainur got depressed because of it.

Whatever happened, we're discussing just the good guys now. Because it is a mess anyway so let's try to narrow it down for now. It's still a very difficult question, I think.

So, the Second Music. Where is it sung and is it material? (well as much as music is material anyway, but I think you know what I mean)

On one hand, the Music of the Ainur was clearly not material (because matter did not exist), and its being a music feels somewhat like an approximation. And took place (it's not a place but whatever) in the Timeless Halls.

On the other hand, Men are said to sing in the Second Music (and maybe the Elves too, unclear), so… will it be material? Or does this mean "the spirits of Men"? Will it be more of a literal music than the first one, or not? Where will it be sung?

(If we simply copy and paste a solution from outside the Legendarium, it still leaves a lot of questions, depending on how much do we copy)

(Also, Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth is not an answer. It is a question (and no, I don't mean a "the answer is yes" question (though this too), but an open question. It's a discussion of two characters, not anyt sort of explanations, and it leaves more questions than it answers. but if you want to elaborate starting from this text, you're welcome.)

But yes, even with those disclaimers, "the Second Music immaterial; spirits; it reboots Arda into Arda Healed" seems like the most fitting solution. Especially if we ignore the whole "and then Feanor reboots the Trees" thing which… for me the important part of that is "Fefe gets over his issues", and that we can keep.

And generally, what do the Valar do afterwards?

On one hand, in Ainulindale chapter (or was it in Valaquenta? nvm) it seems like their being on Arda is temporary. On the other, with Arda Healed… It's still Arda, in a way.

So do the Valar still govern it (I need to remind myself that Manwë having a burnout is not canon), or… what? Do they live there, or in the Timeless Halls, or are they free to move between those (and somehow the Elves and Men don't get jealous about it).

And if the answer is "the Timeless Halls effectively get moved to Arda" – ok, this solves some questions, but why? why. All the other Ainur were not interested in material existence. Why would this be a thing? It seems quite out-of-the-blue and random.

I'd love to see your thoughts (plural "you", though I'm sure some will have more intense thoughts than others :) )

[boxturret]

2003, The Era of Sport, The Era of the Hockey Men

I'll be honest, I wanted to do a big multi part write up in a similar vein to the one I did on the Bohrok Pens, but after getting all the sets in hand I just...didn't have much to say about them. I took a ton of photos but when it came to actually putting a post together I just wasn't having any fun, felt like I'd end up reciting set numbers and other things that anyone can look up on other sites, so screw it. In no particular order, here's my rambling thoughts about the 2003 Bionicle Hockey sets:

They're okay.

Function

The spring part at their core is neat, it's bidirectional, so both ends of the spring are set up in such a way that when its rotated it will return to centre.

There are two configurations of hockey men, they all use the same basic functional parts:

The first kind mounts the spring vertically and by pushing on the head the stick rotates slightly

The second one mounts the spring horizontally and pressing the head swings the stick in a wide arc.

There's four different kinds of sticks, two for each configuration.

Each has a different shape to it to affect how the hockey puck is hit, but in practice the horizontal mount is by far the more powerful of the two.

This one fires pretty straight.

This one is curved so it kinda flicks the puck in the air.

This one destroys everything in its path.

And this one is pretty much the same, but with a slight bend in it.

And that's it really. Despite there being 8 different hockey men across all the sets, there's only those four configurations.

When looking at some of the parts, like the spring and the base, I saw how they were mirrored, and was hoping that maybe you could reverse the mechanisms at the very least, but nope.

Sadly the main wedge parts are chiral, so they can't be flipped around. Which seems rather a shame, having left and right handed hockey men would have added some variety.

Masks

On the topic of variety, one of the more interesting aspects of the hockey men is the masks. This was really the reason I got them. I'm really in to the pre-Bionicle idea of Voodoo Heads, and some of these masks seem like they would have fit in well with that theme.

The hockey men actually use a Tohunga head, the same as in the 01 Bionicle sets, but in light grey. So their masks are completely compatible with Bionicle.

The way they were released though was very odd.

There's 7 different masks, which works out perfectly for the number of sets, 4 canister sets, a two pack, a mess, and the omni man who can be anything you wish:

The masks were on sprues, three to a wheel. The first row of three was on one, the second on another. The seventh mask was released on its own.

What's so odd about the sprues is how...different they are.

The first one has a much thinner wall to the ring, there's no support spokes, and the masks are supposed to be held together with a little 3 pronged bit of plastic in the middle, though none of the ones I got had that part in place. In fact, one sealed set I got that was supposed to come with this ring just had the masks loose, with the bit of plastic along with them. Note how the masks all have horizontal parts jutting out from the mouth peg, that slots in to the mouth of the Tohunga skull, just like a Bionicle mask would.

The second wheel is much thicker, with additional supports along the edges, and three spokes holding everything in place. Now you'd think this would be a later revision, but look at the mouth pegs, they're lacking the parts that lock in to the mouth, meaning they're harder to align properly.

The seventh mask is lacking any sprue marks so I think it was done as a single part and has the side parts on the peg. Its also quite similar to one of the ones on the first sprue, so for a while I didn't know it was its own thing.

They're quite odd. Neat looking though.

Mess

Speaking of the seventh mask, here's the set it came with.

Its best described as a hot mess.

In theory its supposed to be a puck feeder, shooting pucks out for you to attempt to hit, but the motor is so weak, and the construction of the feeding mechanism is really prone to jamming.

It barely has enough power to get through the included pucks, which it just limply drops out of its ramp.

If that isn't good enough for you there's alternate instructions for a...thing instead.

Its super awkward to wind up, and you get seconds of a hockey stick shaped thing flailing around a bit, the bulk of the mechanism itself filling most of the goal on its own.

Its also even more susceptible to jamming than the first build!

Goals

Okay, back in to more positive things, the goal in that last set was a stripped down version of the goals that came in the two pack set, which I think are some of the better things to come from the theme.

Featuring lovely long red axles and a special net, they really look the part! shame about the blue friction split pins, this was right on the edge of when everything fell apart colour wise.

What's better is that if you got the big multi pack which came with the two pack and two of the omni-men, you also got the huge hockey rink base which had special tabs just for locking the goal in place.

The rink is a really cool thing, its made from this milky plastic and they printed everything on the back side, so the prints are viewed through the semi transparent plastic. This makes it look very authentic to how ice rinks really look (I'm Canadian I know these things).

Its huge though, it needs a lot of table or floor space. Its larger than toy hockey rinks, and is getting close to some smaller air hockey tables I've seen.

Couldn't even take a full photo of it easily.

You can fit all the major sets on it, but its pretty tight, but that doesn't really matter that much, as I don't think you'd be able to play the game like this at all.

Really I don't know how playable this game is, even with the rink, there's some sets that are purposefully designed to flip the puck in the air.

Combination Models

Speaking of flipping pucks in the air: the hockey Kaita. Okay I don't have a good link to this part.

I think these guys really highlight the weakness of this system. even when using parts from multiple sets the functions stay identical, the extra parts are just tossed on haphazardly.

Also, even though this one says its a combiner of those two sets, you can make it without touching any part of the second one.

It doesn't come though on this scan, but the face plates in these photos are clearly 3d printed.

Mini Guys

As is traditional, the theme also features several small sets. Its quite confusing as there's a lot of different versions, some come together, some separate, some in bags, some not, but at their core there's 6 figures, two pairs of each size class; large, medium, and small. The larger ones sometimes had goals, depending on the version.

The mini guys all have the same function, which honestly is pretty ingenious, using a Slizer foot to wedge the two feet beams apart on one side and snap them together on the other side to shoot the puck. Honestly its a bit more fun than some of the full sized sets.

The one issue is that hitting them too hard on the softer plastic of the armour piece does feel liable to bend it. Something to look out for, especially with the set exclusive yellow one.

That part came in a very wide array of colours in this one theme.

Female Bionicle M.O.C.s for decades after owe a lot to the hockey-men.

Bottle

And I guess to end things I'll briefly touch on the bottle. Much like the Roboriders and Bionicle sets, they came in canisters, in fact the threading is cross compatible between many of these various canisters.

The canisters always had a purpose, the Roborider's lids could be used in the combiners, the Toa's canisters were an important thing in the story, and the lids represented the suva and could store 7 masks, and the Bohrok canisters represented their hive and doubled as a way of displaying them.

The hockey canisters are functional water bottles.

The nub on top can be pulled out and drunk from. Its a fairly standard water bottle design, though I think more recently its fallen out of favour. the lid is lacking a gasket of any kind however, so the water tightness of this bottle is questionable.

Conclusion

And that's all I have to say about the hockey men of 2003. Turns out it was quite a lot, but it wasn't quite as comprehensive as I was intending. I took a lot of photos that I didn't end up using, so I'll put them all up on my drive HERE. In my attempts to get all the sets I just incidentally ended up with practically all the boxes and cans, which is pretty funny considering all the effort I went through to achieve the same for other themes.

Overall, they're kinda neat, interesting to mess around with a bit, but the system was really needlessly limited and some functions were quite lacklustre. If I had to give them a number ranking it would be an eight point three.

****

I'll leave this post on a bit of a mystery I'm not invested enough to get to the bottom of:

There's an odd amount of inconsistency between how the sets are depicted, whether its a straight image or doing this effect where its a single image projected across multiple screens. I got all the canister sets at once, and they all came with their instructions, so unless the person selling them was mix and matching them, which is possible but seems unlikely with the condition they were in, I have no clue what's going on here. Some match, some are one way, some are the other, its all very odd.

Well, have a nice day.

Ah yes! One last thing:

Like the Slizer boxes, the Hockey Men all come with a nice blank tile to write your name on.

Which is, I believe, a crime in oleg fan circles severe enough to warrant execution.

[starlightrosa]

Battleships

Summary: Charlie and Angel are playing a game of Battleships. But not with pen and paper. More like marker pens, and ticklish backs as their papers. Just so happens that these ticklish backs are property of Lucifer and Alastor.

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: Tickling, swearing, Angel Dust's unique humour, a bit of depressing talk concerning Alastor's mum (Alastor do be a mama's boy and he big sad) but mostly fluff <3

Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another day in the Hazbin Hotel, and there was a very obvious mood of mischief. Ticklish mischief, to put it much more obviously. There seemed to be tickle fights breaking out every hour between Charlie and Vaggie, Niffty was running round and tormenting whichever unlucky soul was within reach with her feather duster, and even Husk was sneaking in a few underarm tickles whenever Angel Dust was too close to the bar.

It was driving two certain people in the hotel up the wall, but for two very different reasons.

Lucifer was one of the affected. He had woken up craving to be held. Or cuddled. Or tickled. Hell, the king had no idea what he wanted relating to specifics. But damn it, if he didn’t get some form of human touch in the next three minutes, then the world was going to end.

Alastor was the second affected by the ticklish mischief ravaging the halls of this rinky-dink hotel. But Alastor thought this playtime was silly. It’s Hell, who spends their afterlife trying to tickle someone else, where every day was utter torment and suffering punctuated by the wails of the eternally damned and the screams of tortured souls? That was a background noise Alastor preferred, to see lost souls drown in an ocean of failure.

But the radio demon could not dwell on his preferences. He would be busy soon, for that charming Charlie had planned a little board game tournament of sorts in an effort to build trust among the hotel patrons. A silly idea, but Alastor didn’t think there was any benefit to crushing the princess’s feelings, so he kept schtum for now.

The crazy tickling vibes from earlier seemed to have petered out. Yet in the hotel’s lobby, Angel Dust and Charlie were locked in a fierce game of something Charlie called ‘Battleship’. Their hastily drawn paper grids and pencils lay in wait, the pencils pointed at each other like military-grade weapons.

“E6.” came Charlie’s voice. Angel laughed, picking up a blue marker and putting a big ‘X’ on that coordinate.

“Missed again, twinkletoes.” Angel crowed.

“Shit. Your go.” Charlie said, waiting for Angel’s guess. The alluring arachnid sinner thought for a bit, before making his guess.

“A4.” Angel guessed. And if the loud groan from Charlie hinted anything, seems Angel had scored a point, or did something right. Alastor wasn’t quite sure how this game worked.

“Ugh, fuck! Hit.” Charlie groaned, picking up a red marker and blotting it with a crimson ‘X’. Angel pumped one of his many fists in the air, no doubt in a victorious manner, or for a quick bragging right. One of the two.

“Hot damn. I am unbeatable at this game!” the spider crowed, looking much too pleased with himself. Alastor rather thought that this game, while simple, did indeed look a bit fun. Not as fun as actually destroying something, but… close enough. And it wasn’t just the radio demon who had heard this game. Lucifer knew what Battleship was. But he didn’t dare come down, for fear of making his obvious lee mood even more obvious, and the markers Charlie and Angel were both using was sure to drive Lucifer crazy with want.

But the princess and spider sinner had seen the way both had been acting. Lucifer’s shaky and nervous demeanour, compared with Alastor trying to be aloof and uncaring like always in an effort to mask his curiosity at the game they were playing was a rather funny thing to see indeed. And Charlie made this known to Angel, with both setting up for their next game, fresh sheets of paper and newly sharpened pencils at the ready for their grids.

“We should get my dad and Alastor in on this game, Angel. I think they’d enjoy it.” Charlie whispered quietly, the princess barely masking a smile of her own. She wasn’t stupid; she knew the tells of her father in a lee mood, namely because she did mostly the same thing when she was in one herself, from the nervous glances at wiggling hands to refusing to look at anything that could even be vaguely considered as a tickle tool.

“Oh yeah? Good idea, Princess. Your dad would go for it, but how the hell are we going to get Alastor in? Does he even know this game?” Angel asked.

“I think Vaggie and me having all those tickle fights has… kind of made my dad want something similar, if he hasn’t been wanting to be tickled since he woke up. Alastor is always smiling, but he needs a genuine smile. So here’s my plan…” the princess said, highlighting the fun parts, while Angel listened carefully.

“We’re gonna make them our game boards. You and me, Battleships. Red marks for hit, blue marks for miss. I know my dad has a ticklish back. I don’t know for Alastor. I know he’s ticklish, but he would never say where. So let’s have some fun with this.” Charlie giggled. Angel had a hint of mischief in his own mismatched eyes. This was going to be entertaining.

Late afternoon soon gave way to evening, and as the moon came up into the crimson sky of Pride, the pentagram sun descending down for another day’s end, Alastor and Lucifer finally came into the hotel’s game room, seeing paper and pens dotted about. Alastor sent a barely disguised joyful look at Lucifer’s muffled whine, seeing so many markers strewn over the room.

“Ah! There you guys are. We’re just about to get started. Me and Angel are gonna play Battleships.” Charlie explained, gesturing to them both to sit on the floor, which both men did happily. Lucifer watched Charlie draw her grid, while Alastor was on Team Angel, watching the spider scribble his own grid.

“Why do we need to be witnesses for this? This seems just like a two-player duel.” Alastor pointed out. His question did have merit, and Charlie barely concealed a laugh as she quickly screwed her paper up and tackled Lucifer to the floor. Before Alastor could even laugh at the daughter of the king taking down the monarch so fucking easily, a similar weight slammed into the radio demon’s own back. Alastor gasped and fell forward, twisting his head quickly to see what the fuck had happened, only to see Angel’s grinning face above him. Oh, those cheeky little shits.

“Angel, what is the meaning of this?!” Alastor demanded, doing his best to wriggle. But his demands were silenced, because with a brisk snap of Charlie’s slender fingers, golden rope twisted gently around Alastor and Lucifer’s wrists, tugging both pairs of hands up and out of the way.

“Sorry, Smiles. Me and Princess Charlie are gonna play our game of Battleship. You and FancyPants over there get to be our game boards, so yay for you guys~!” Angel explained, a wide smirk on the spider’s features as he took a seat on the back of Alastor’s thighs, Charlie doing the same with her father.

Both Charlie and Angel worked to quickly pull the jacket off each of them, and rolled their shirts up, exposing the skin underneath. Lucifer’s porcelain-white back awaited Charlie, the king already shivering with barely-repressed laughter, and Alastor’s scarred back was presented to Angel.

So many scars, hot damn. Angel traced a couple of the thicker ones absentmindedly, to a choked back snort from Alastor. Well, this was not how the Radio Demon expected the night to go. One could definitely confirm that this was NOT on the bingo card.

“Hah, ya sound like Fat Nuggets.” Angel teased, referencing his beloved pet pig, smirking down at Alastor.

“Oh shut up- Mmph!” Alastor began to demand, but he snapped his mouth shut as he felt the cold tip of a marker gently trace on his back. From what he could feel, Angel seemed to be drawing a grid of sorts. Charlie seemed to be doing the same, and judging from the noises opposite, Lucifer was already giggling and doing his best not to squirm.

“Oh, you got a ticklish back, do ya Smiley? Shit, how the hell are you gonna last this game?” Angel laughed.

“I ahaham gohoing to dehestroy yohohou ahand thehen-!” Alastor threatened, but his threat was cut off by a shrill squeal from Lucifer, and then rapid pounding as the king’s boots hit the floor rapidly, the king giggling freely. Alastor knew his back to be fairly ticklish, but by the sounds of it, Lucifer’s had to be far worse. The thought of that almost made him feel bad for the king. Almost.

Charlie and Angel rested their markers down on each side of their ‘game boards’. Red and blue, one on each side. Both Lucifer and Alastor’s backs were drawn on to mimic a Battleships grid, from letters A to J, and numbers 1 to 10.

“You’re goin’ down, princess.” Angel laughed. Charlie sent a mischief-laced smile back his way to the spider sinner.

“In your dreams, Dust.”

And with the fighting words out of the way, the game officially began. Charlie had the first call, at Angel’s insistence. Or as Angel put it, “Ladies first and all that shit.”

“C3.”

Angel located the spot – at the top left side of Alastor’s back. He poked softly, and pinched a few times. No reaction from the Radio Demon, not even a wobbling smirk. With a disappointed tut, he picked his blue marker and drew an ‘X’ into that spot on Alastor’s back.

“Miss. In return… F2.”

Charlie nodded, finding that spot – top middle of her father’s back, at the top of his spine. She pinched that spot and poked softly. Lucifer gasped and broke into squeaky giggles. Because his hands were tied up, as were Alastor’s, the king nor the radio demon could even dream of moving.

“Hit! Nice, Angel.” Charlie smiled, picking up her red marker and drawing a red ‘X’ into that spot. “My go. Umm… I’ll say H9.”

Angel nodded and looked down at Alastor, noticing the eternal smile now had some kind of nervous look to it. Angel pinched at the annotated spot on Alastor’s back, enjoying the radio demon struggle under the spider.

“Damn, nice shot Princess!” Angel laughed. “Looks like he’s ticklish as fuck here.”

“Angel, I’ll kihihill yohoHOU! Stohohohahap ihihit!” Alastor tittered, squirming side to side. Angel Dust couldn’t help but laugh, grabbing the scruff of Alastor’s collared shirt to avoid being tossed off.

“Jesus, it’s like I’m on one of those bucking bulls in the bars downtown.” Angel joked, steadying himself atop Alastor’s back with a few ruthless side squeezes before the demon could get a chance to throw him off.

“AH! Ahahangel, I’m gohohoing to rihihip yohohour tongue ohohout!”

“Stop laughing first, Smiles.” Angel shot back. “Oh wait. Ya can’t, cause you’re too ticklish~!”

“Alastor, you aren’t in a position to make threats anyway.” Charlie teased, as she awaited Angel’s next guess.

“Let’s go for D1.” the spider guessed. Charlie found the spot quite easily, anyway, unleashing another series of quick fire pokes. Sadly, nothing from Lucifer despite the huge lee mood that plagued the king.

“A-Ah… oh good, I’m okay.” Lucifer whispered, shoving down his smile.

“Missed, Angel.” Charlie said.

“Ah, fuck. Well, if I missed him, I gotta kiss him. Pucker up, Daddy Morningstar~” Angel joked, enjoying Alastor’s muffled snickering and Lucifer’s panicked babbling at that idea.

“I don’t think my mother would appreciate that, Angel.” Charlie laughed, the melody of laughter in the room bringing a huge smile to her face. It was nice to see everyone enjoy themselves. “My go. So let’s try one spot up. H8.”

“Real original.” Angel joked with a playful eye-roll, even as he moved one square up and pinched and poked that spot on Alastor’s back. Alastor couldn’t help it, and a deer’s squeaking noise left his mouth.

“Nice, Charlie. Hit!” Angel announced, drawing a red ‘X’ into that spot on Alastor’s back, which Alastor would argue tickled more than the actual poking bit itself. And the fact that Angel was very slow in drawing the crosses themselves just made everything that much more maddening.

Lucifer and Alastor would never admit it, but both men were actually having some semblance of fun. Lucifer was happy his daughter involved him in this game, even if it was at his expense.

Alastor did enjoy the fun and mischief this place offered. In a way, this was probably something his mother would have done, had they both been still alive. Alastor’s heart ached painfully at the thought she was in Heaven and he couldn’t see her, or talk to her, or to be held in her arms a final time.

By the time this fierce round of Battleships ended, both Lucifer and Alastor’s backs were covered in a plethora of red and blue crosses. Alastor had red dotting both his top and lower back, and blue in the middle.

Lucifer had many more red crosses, and only a smattering of blue marks over his obviously very ticklish back. Both men were panting slightly by the time the game was finally over.

“Well, this was fun.” Charlie smiled. Angel nodded.

“Aw hell yeah, toots. We have to do this again.” Angel smiled.

Alastor was quick to loudly protest. “NO!! Not again, I forbid it and-!”

But a series of skittering fingers along his upper back shut the radio demon down quickly, and Alastor was floored, his normally reserved laughter giving way to squeaky giggling. Oddly adorable.

“Round two, Angel~?” Charlie asked with a smirk. Angel’s mischievous grin clawed its way back onto his face.

“You read my mind, Princess.” Angel responded sweetly, both princess and sinner looking at Lucifer and Alastor with a shared evil grin. And after the necessary cleaning time to wipe the grid off Lucifer and Alastor’s backs (only for the grid to be drawn back on each of them) the laughter from the hotel carried on well into the wee hours of the morning, the battleship duels between Charlie and Angel Dust raging on.

The End!

[missingpolinseason]

Despite the claims that there's no deleted Polin scenes in season 3, What a Barb! Podcast just found some more scenes that didn't make the final cut.

The first one I want to talk about is Colin's dream. Aparently, in the original script, Dream!Colin wants to continue 'the lessons' and says he "still has so much to teach her", to wich Dream!Pen replys "teach me". The insert ends with Colin saying: "Don't worry, it's only us. It was always us". Now, how on earth did they though that it was okay to delete a scene in wich Colin admits to himself it was always them?

That scene being deleted makes me wonder how was the original Willow Tree scene - as that scene is about ending the lessons, and we know it was a reshot because of the wig. Was it a scene to mirror the dream sequence? Because the dream reveals he wanted to continue their lessons and "teach" and "experience so many things with her" but he "gives up" because he thinks she doesn't want it. Like, it would make so much sense with his insecurity to destroy the friendiship. Omg. Not to mention it embodies one of my favorite things about the book wich is Colin being in love with Pen even before realising it.

Then we have the second scene, wich is actually a line cut out of their first kiss. In this version, Colin claims that (the kiss) would ruin her, but she says she's 'already ruined'. And as much as I have no complain about their first kiss - it is my absolute favorite scene -, in this moment Penelope thinks she has nothing else to loose. That she will never married and will spend all her life trapped in her mother's house. That's wath brings her to ask for the only thing she ever wanted: a kiss from Colin. She's a romantic after all. But Colin doesn't see her as a 'ruinned woman' and he doesn't want to cross the line even though no one would known.

In fact, in the book, her kiss request is kind off prompted by Colin saying that "Suppose I told everyone that I have seduced you. You would be ruined forever. It wouldn't matter that we had never even kiss. That, my dear Penelope, is the power of the word". And that quote/line of thinking matches so well the persona who sees Whistledown as an enemy that the show build for Colin...

Last, but not least, a scene in episode 7. The night before their marriage. A prostitute aproches Colin but he declines her services. This not only shows the truth that he'd never cheat on Pen but also that he knows they will be well and leave happily ever after.

They chosen to cute this scenes. Rumour is they chosen to pick a version of the modiste scene in wich Colin sends Pen home alone in the middle of the night when there's alleged a version of this scene when he goes home with her - not to mention the scene of them in bed talking about Colin's write. How many more Polin scenes we may have lost?

UPDATE || it came to my attention that the way I wrote this post may have been confusing so let me clarify: there were 4 alleged deleted scenes known and mentioned in the petition (2 being a "short-cut" of scenes we've seen, and 1 a different version of the modiste scene). The news found in the scripts are a deleted scene; a huge part of Colin's dream and a line in their first kiss. What I want you to take from this post is that there were changes and cuts. They deleted moments that would have been important and sugnificant to Polin's story. And keep in mind that is only the cuts we got to know.

*The deleted scenes/scripts were courtesy of the Writers Guild Foundation Shavelson-Webb Library (accordinding to What a Barb! posdcast).

** First scene is loosely quoted as I saw the information in portuguese and translated back to english.

*** The original screenshots of the scenes + insta posts belong to the What a Barb! podcast Creators. I included the images along with the source.

[badasgirlfriend]

Love On The Down Low - Bada Lee Social Media AU - 031

pairings: bada lee x zhong lei

prev - masterlist - next

TW: grooming

a/n: would've could've should've is the song she wrote </3

taglist: { @1luvkarina , @hallotherenicetomeetyou @fillthwvoid , @kdacase @prilux @jjlovesbada @waveartistry , @dkluvs , @pinksults, @tikitsune , @b1ackbunny , @adaiasafira, @froufrousnowman , @99ycs, @badaslali , @italiekim , @saturnushasmyback , @heedoya @fairiechuu @itsbokutosjuicyass , @tnu-ree @jesuschrist2006 @asweetcollide , @ssivinee , @downbadforbada , @starryelling , @pupbistro , @dexthzone , @smoooore }

Numbness

That's what Bada had been feeling ever since she got that message. There were no tears or screams, just silent suffering. Her eyes were dry and she felt hollow inside. She was staring at her blue notebook she got with a pen in her hands

'Whatever you think, sorry but I don't give a fucking shit'

But mostly, she was mad.

She felt a burning anger within her. She was mad at the people who didn't believe her and continued to throw so many words at her without hearing her first

'Sorry, I don't give a fuck that your life is medicore'

She was angry at the company she basically brought back from failure.

'That you screwed up and are unable to leave the shithole'

She was mad at that girl who, for no reason, decided to destroy everything she has worked for. Playing the victim while Bada is the actual victim

'For you to think that my success is related to your failure"

Bada felt a growing sense of dread and anxiety. She had a feeling that this story would end badly for her, and she didn't like where it was headed.

Trapped in a nightmare with no way out

"Your delusion is top-notch fuck it"

Her eyes remained glued to paper that was filled with lyrics. Her attention was focused on the song she was working on, not even glancing at the girl who just entered the studio. She sighed and scribbled the mistake she had accidentally made, for what seemed like the hundredth time.

Bada heard the chair next to her being pulled out, but she didn't look her way. Lei remained silent as well, not making a sound.

Lei stared at her, Bada's hood was up, hiding her face perfectly. She moved her eyes to read what she was writing. She cracked a smile, happy to see Bada get her motive back.

She wanted to say something, but everything that was on her mind felt embarrassing. Lei wasn't used to having this problem with anyone else. In fact, she was always the one striking up a conversation, you can never keep her mouth shut. But ever since she spent all those nights thinking about the butterflies she gets everytime she hangs out with Bada, something changed

Oh she's so fucked

"What's worse?" Bada spoke up, and Lei's eyes immediately darted towards her

"Being wanted but not loved, or loved but not wanted?"

"Uhm depends in what situation you put it" the shorter girl answered "But for me, I prefer a situation where both love and want are mutual"

Bada only nodded, satisfied with her answer. "Same" she muttered and closed the notebook. She then pulled her hood down, and tried to fix her messy hair

Lei felt sorry for the girl. Her eyes felt dead, and her eyebags were only getting worse day by day. Compared to when she first came and now, she lost so much weight too

"Let's celebrate" Bada bent down down and took out a small convenience store white cake from from the mini fridge.

Lei eyed her suspiciously taking a sip of water "What is this for?"

"For me getting kicked out of my group"

The chinese girl almost choked on her water "what- you got kicked?" she asked in disbelief, she didn't think it would come at this point

Bada's head whipped around in the blink of an eye "N- no oh my god, I said it wrong. Maybe I'll get kicked, I don't know they're thinking about it. If they can't win against the girl then yes"

"Well fuck your CEO and manager" Lei muttered, throwing her bottle on the floor in a fit of rage. "This whole situation should've ended months ago. That company is so greedy and corrupt, just hungry for more attention and money"

Bada couldn't help but grin as Lei continued to angrily ramble and curse everyone. It was oddly adorable how she would grab the hem of her shirt every time she was mad and play with it. Bada also noticed the way her heart began beating abnormally, and she couldn't help but feel a tug of affection for this girl. She'll ignore it for now

It will go away

"It's okay. We'll see how it goes" Bada replied "We'll see what happens" She passed a fork to Lei, and they began eating small bites of cake without even bothering to cut it.

"You didn't tell me you were a YG trainee."

Lei shivered at the mention of YG, her mind going back to those haunting memories of her time as a trainee. The voices of the other girls and stagf constantly putting her down, the pressure of being perfect, the abuse and neglect, most importantly him

"Yeah" Lei's mouth suddenly went dry at the thought. " How do you know?"

"I saw your 'YG songs' file" Bada said

"Oh, should've changed the name" she uttered "I was for five years then I left"

"I don't blame you" Bada sympathized. "It's a good thing that you left. They're known for keeping trainees forever without ever making their debut."

"It's not because of that" Lei sighed, avoiding eye contact and looking towards the computer. "I was forced to leave. They forced me to go, and there wasn't much I could do about it. It's a long story"

Lei's cheeks reddened when she felt Bada's hand grab hers.

"We have time" Bada said, reassuring her.

2016

Lei's whole body was shaking, and tears would run down her cheeks. She was trying to hard dance perfectly, but she simply couldn't anymore. The pressure was taking a toll on her, and she couldn't keep up no matter how hard she tried.

"Hey are you alright?" a voice said behind her. She wiped the tears from her face quickly, her eyes still red

She turned around to face the person, and her eyes widened as she saw who it was. It only took a split second for her to recognize him as her senior, she was too embarrassed to look him in the eye. Instead, she bowed and kept her head dangling low "Y-yes Im fine thank you"

He smiled softly at her and laughed. "It's obvious you're not, here take my water bottle."

"It's unnecessary really," she was about to deny his offer, but his playful glare won her over. "Thank you."

"If anyone's giving you a hard time, just tell me. I'll have a talk with them," he said with a lighthearted tone. He winked at her, and Lei blushed hard "How old are you anyway?"

Lei cleared her throat and replied "15"

He smiled at her amused "Really?" He eyed her up and down smirking "You look much older"

If only she knew..

~

"I was 15, and he was 26" Lei muttered, their chairs now touching. Lei rested her head on Bada's shoulder and closed her eyes, Bada caressing her hand

"I was young and dumb" she continued "and he was older and manipulative. He took advantage of my age and innocence to mold me into what he wanted me to be."

Bada's nails dug into the chair, and her grip tightened. She clenched her jaw so harshly that she could feel the tension in her jaw muscles "Who's that man"

Lei sighed "The famous Kim Jihoon, Korea's pride, funny title if they only knew"

This hit Bada like a brick. Suddenly, all the rumors she had heard among some trainees made more sense. Bada had met him many times, and he had always been nice, but there was always this weird feeling about him. It was like something was off and not quite right.

"At first, he started buying me drinks and snacks during practice. Then it turned more serious he began gifting me jewelry. Months went by and we started dating. I was on cloud 9 from happiness, everything felt perfect. I thought I was going to debut, and I was dating every girl's dream boy."

Bada bit her lip at Lei's confession, feeling a mixture of anger and sadness.

2017

Jihoon sat next her, smiling as he looked at her. "You look so cute like this. You should make your hair into little buns more often" he ran his thumb over her cheek gently, making her smile.

"It makes me look so childish though" Lei replied, feeling embarrassed.

"Nah, you look pretty, you're a big girl" he said, leaning in close and brushing her cheek with his lips. Jihoon pressed his body close to hers, but he immediately backed away when some of the other girls entered the hallway. They instantly began to giggle and greet him with playful flirtatious smiles, and he smiled back.

Lei felt a pang of jealousy and envy as she witnessed this, feeling completely insecure compared to these pretty girls. They were older than her, way prettier and about to debut soon. Everything Jihoon was looking in a girl

"Can't let them see us, right?" Jihoon laughed teasing her, and Lei's smile fell

She was his, but he was never hers

~

"We had been dating for a year, and I often felt uncomfortable with some things he wanted me to do. I just felt so confused because he was older and wiser, and he was an idol. He always used that as his excuse whenever I questioned him." Lei's hands began to shake as she tried to explain the emotions and situation she had been in.

Bada closed her eyes, trying to hold back her tears. She placed an arm around Lei's shoulder and reassured her "It's not your fault-"

"It is, it was always my fault"

2017

Jihoon slammed the practice door and shouted, "What the fuck Lei?"

Lei took a step back, her hands shaking behind her back, feeling nervous and scared. She tried to get her words out but her mouth was dry and she felt too overwhelmed to respond.

Jihoon cursed again and began to brush his hair with his hands. "I told you not to talk to me in front of the others. God you're so stupid and immature"

Lei said quietly and sniffled "Im sorry, please don't leave me"

Jihoon frowned and sighed, pulling her closer to him and wiping away her tears. "Im sorry for yelling but it was your fault baby, you made me really mad" he continued "But I'll forgive you"

Lei whispered "Why do you never talk to me when we're around other people?"

He placed his hand under her chin, gently lifting her face towards him. "They can't know about us because then they'll say that you debuted because of me"

Jihoon placed a sweet kiss to her forehead, and he looked at her with a playful grin. "We don't want that to happen, right? So let's keep it a secret."

'He's older Lei, he knows what he's doing'

He moved to kiss her lips, but she quickly turned her head away. She didn't know why she felt so uncomfortable with making out with him, but she has to, other girls would let him do things like this "I'm sorry Jihoon I don't really want to-"

He looked at her with a smirk "Shh it's okay don't worry. I know you're inexperienced, but it's okay. We'll take things slowly and learn together."

~

"He used me in so many ways, and I just let him. Chenle was so against our relationship, and I told him I broke up with him just to get him off my back." Lei explained, feeling a mix of guilt and shame

Bada's mind was flooded with so many emotions. She wanted to hug Lei, kill that motherfucker and burn down YG Entertainment.

"I noticed that he would always ask for my lyrics journal and I gave it to him since I thought it wasn't a big deal. But he never gave it back to me. One day I was at the cafe when I heard his newest song playing. I recognized it instantly because it was my song that I've written."

Lei paused and took a deep breath, Bada squeezed her hand in comfort. "His whole album was filled with songs I wrote, he changed nothing. I was so angry that I texted him saying that I'll tell Yang HyunSuk about what he did."

"Three hours later, I got called to his office, where Jihoon was also present. Jihoon started accusing me of selling his songs and leaking information, and even stalking him. Everything he said to Yang HyunSuk, he believed it without a doubt. Yang HyunSuk offered me two options: they can sue for stalking and selling their songs, or I can leave the entertainment and the country for at least five years and the police won't get involved"

Bada sighed sadly and rubbed her face, feeling awful for the girl "So you chose to leave"

Bada felt sick, her girlhood, her dream everything was taken away from her. Lei didn't deserve what she went through, at such a young age

"I had no choice but to leave," Lei replied softly, smiling faintly at Bada "We weren't financially stable, and in this society, who do you think they would believe?"

She shook her head sadly. "A man who's admired by everyone or a young girl who no one knows? They would never choose the girl."

"I went back to my parents after everything and worked for a year before coming here to live alone. It wasn't easy, but I made it work because I had to. I wanted to continue pursuing my dream but I couldn't. I just had to move on and let it go"

She was so used to this pain that it became normal to her. But damn did she feel sorry for herself

She was young

Bada quickly wiped away the tear rolling down her cheek before Lei could see it. She then took her hand and gently held Lei’s face, making her look at her directly.

"You were just a kid, and you didn't deserve that. He was 26. And I don't want you to blame yourself, it was never your fault."

Lei gave a quick nod of her head, trying to fight back her tears.

Bada pulled her closer and hugged her tightly. She whispered in her ear "I'm so sorry you went through this alone. But you did it in the end, and I'm super proud of you."

Lei held her firmly as well, hugging her as close as their chairs would allow them to. Neither of them minded the uncomfortable seating position and just wanted to stay like that

"And when my hiatus is over, If you want, we can go together in Korea. I'll be by your side so you can finally speak up and tell your story. Everyone deserves to hear it from the heart."

Bada whispers this in Lei’s ear with a gentle voice "And you can't hide your talent" Bada said as she pulled away from the hug and logged in on the computer. "Why stop your dream for a fucked up man, his life is going to get destroyed either way? You can get your songs back and sing them like they're supposed to, and we'll make sure everyone knows the truth and knows that you deserve better."

Lei nodded softly and let out a small, broken chuckle. "I'm sorry this turned depressing so quickly"

Lei clicked on her YG files and pointed to one of the songs "I wrote this after I realized everything he did to me"

"Can I hear it?" Bada asked

Lei didn't reply, she just played the song, Bada listened carefully from the start to the end. Each word was like a knife in her gut

She felt sick

[zpiderwebs]

A/N: it's literally 4am..HUZAHHH I wanted to write this soo badd mmnngghhfff..also, this is the first actual time I write in..a very long time that has to do with my own idea...sorry if it's not good </3

△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△

𖦹[△"Who are you..?"△]𖦹

[In control! Bill Cipher (Ford) x GN! reader]

Summary: [Basically Bill in Ford's body. That's all. Reader witnesses it all and Bill is very...icky about his Sixer.]

Warnings?: Just kinda angsty and lots of swearing coming from reader and Bill just being a complete dick and doesn't care about hurting reader's feelings...guh..apologies in advance!

(;´∀｀). Enjoy!!

------------------------------------

Four goddamn months.

It's been four dreadfully long months since you've last had a decent conversation with him. He hardly pays attention, hardly even needs you down in the basement, and now his fucking home is full of..triangles. You thought it was another one of his little silly quirks..but no. "Meditating" sessions have turned into hours. Hours of him being locked down in the basement, refusing you to even take a peek down at the portal. What the hell were you even needed for anymore? Did he just need your damn help on the calculations and mathematic brain and that's all???

God, it all bothered you so much.

You felt like you were wasting so much time just sitting on your ass all day, not even having any type of interaction besides with yourself when your half asleep and mumbling whatever crosses your mind.

Ford. Ford was a great and smart man when you became friends through Fiddleford back at Backupsmore. But now, after he dragged you all the way to a small town called Gravity Falls that was nowhere near where you last lived...you've never felt so isolated and alone. The one man you once considered to be a great friend and a smart guy..turned out to be just a mess.

He barely eats anymore. Barely sleeps or even takes care of himself. Only ever coming up for more bitter coffee and heading back to the basement without a word to say, brushing pass you. He worries the hell out of you...and your not sure how long you could keep going at this, allowing him to destroy himself mentally and physically.

Well, you have hit your limit.

It was a late night. You had woken up to a loud sound coming from the basement. You didn't realize you had fallen asleep reading a book on the couch. You quickly sat up and walked towards the basement door. Reaching for the doorknob, it didn't stop when you slightly turned it.

It was unlocked.

Sucking in air through clenched teeth, you gripped the doorknob even tighter. You knew you shouldn't, but you needed to make sure your only friend at the moment was okay. Slowly, turning the cold knob, you pulled the door towards you. Once it was open, you heard Ford talking to himself and..laughing? That was..new.

You began to descend the stairs, slowly making your way down. Barely a few steps down, you heard another crash that was followed by another laugh.

"What the fuck..?" You quietly mumbled to yourself. Once you reached the ground, you quickly scanned the area and saw Ford hunched over his desk, writing something into his journal. You walked over, making sure not to startle him with your new presence.

"Ford? You..alright?" You called out. Suddenly Ford's body jumped as he dropped the pen he was writing with. He quickly flung his head to look at you with...weird eyes.

His eyes looked odd. Was the lack of sleep finally catching up to him? Then, a wide smile appeared on his face as his eyes stayed glued to yours. Creepy. That stare sent shivers down your spine as you swallowed hard and bit the inside of your cheek.

"Hey, toots. Didn't think you'd come down here." Ford chuckled, awkwardly standing up as he quickly made his way over. You took a step back.

'Toots'? Since when the hell did he start using nicknames like that?

"Uh, well, you were making a lot of noise and...I just wanted to check up on you. First..time you fucking speak to me in..months practically. What's up with that?" You rubbed the back of your neck, awkwardly looking away. Fuck, you sounded desperate...and you were.

Ford took some time to answer, like if he wasn't actually expecting you to keep a conversation going, hoping you'd just day 'Oh, okay' and scram.

"Oh well..I dunno. Too busy." Ford shrugged. Oh, that answer pissed you off.

"Busy? With what? Seriously, Ford. What possibly could you be doing down here, just hunching over your damn desk and writing in your journal. The least you could do is eat something. All you live off of is coffee? Don't you understand how bad that is?" You huffed. You haven't felt this..angry in years. The last person you wanted to upset you was Ford.

"Why does that concern you so much? Your so concerned over him that you can't even think straight, toots." Ford chuckled, his...weary yellow eyes looking into yours as he took a step closer.

You huffed. His way of speaking sounded off. "It concerns me because you can get yourself killed this way, Ford. How am I supposed to know if you do drop dead when your always locked down here? I wouldn't even know if you hardly speak to me anymore in the first place!"

Ford groaned and rolled his eyes. "God, you humans and your dumb relationships and emotions. Boring! Your all so clingy, depending on attention and empathy from others. It's pathetic."

You raised a brow. Ouch? What the hell was he talking about now? "Ford, seriously, just talk normal. And..I wanted to ask you, what's up with all this stupid triangle worship stuff and..all this 'meditation'? Your really worrying me."

Ford only sighed before pinching his nose and looking at you dead in the eyes. "Alright listen, toots. And listen good because I'm not repeating myself. I'm not Ford. I'm Bill. I'm his biggest and only muse. He doesn't need you or anybody anymore. He has me and that's all he needs. You were nothing but a pure tool for him to use until he didn't need it anymore, and that'd be..now! So, you've been doing nothing this whole time while me and little ol Sixer have been having a blast." Ford..or..now Bill that was in Ford's body, chuckled.

You were..dumbfounded. What..? "H-huh? Okay, Ford, is this some sick joke?"

Bill chuckled and made his way closer to you, causing you to back up..only for your back to hit the wall.

"Oh, no I'm not joking, toots. I'm in control of Sixer right now. And right now, I'm telling you to leave. He doesn't need you anymore. He doesn't need anyone. Your just a waste of space and a mere tool he used and doesn't need anymore. Back into the tool box!" Bill laughed.

As he continued to laugh at his own words, your mind was trying to comprehend what the fuck was going on. "Who are you...? What are you...?" You murmured out. Bill only chuckled against.

"I'm Bill Cipher. I'm this man's muse."

"What do you want with Ford? Were...you the reason we started building that dumb fucking portal!?" You snapped but suddenly a six fingered hand was slapped onto your mouth.

"Now, let's not disrespect my work or insult it with that dirty mouth, toots. Watch your words. It's simple, really. Ford is what I've been looking for, and I'm what he's been needing. He doesn't need a pestering worthless being like you around him. Your always nagging, begging for attention like some lost puppy. It's pathetic, really. Don't you have anything else to do in your sad life?" Bill's smirk widened, letting out a laugh.

"Of course you don't. You've been thrown under the bus and now your trying to crawl your way out, but that's not possible. He doesn't want or need you anymore, face it. He used you for what he needed. For that smart little brain of yours and that's all. He didn't actually care for your friendship, he was just playing along."

You felt a lump build up in your throat. That's not true..or is it..? Well..he is in Ford's mind. Is that what Ford really thought of you and only needed you for..? You pulled away from the hand before speaking up.

"That's not true-!"

Suddenly-- the hand slapped against against your mouth, shutting you up. "Yes it is! Just accept it already! Your worthless. All you'll ever be good for is to be used and thrown aside. Ford never gave a single shit about you. Your nothing." Bill frowned, speaking through gritted teeth as he glared.

"Now...you can leave his sight, leave him alone. He doesn't need you anymore."

Bill then let you go. You didn't say a word as he walked back towards the desk and sat back down. You wanted to bash something into his head..but that'd mean hurting Ford's body in the process too. His words had already stabbed way too deep into you.

Fuck, you felt like crying...it hurt. It all hurt. Was that really what Ford thought about you? All he ever needed you for? You felt your eyes sting.

You simply wobbled upstairs without another word. You laid awake, starring at the ceiling until you felt hot tears stream down the sides of your face. Everything hurt.

The next morning, you left without word. You thought about leaving a small note or even a letter..but if Ford never said those things and Bill was just lying, he knew where to find you and tell you the truth or write...

But it hurt that 30 years later,

he never wrote to you.

-----

[ayaisokay]

The Kids Aren't Alright

* ~ I'm sorry for making this ~ *

Doomers & Fatalism

Regardless of your age, you need a reason to move forward. You need hope. Yet, it's hard to find hope for teens and young adults.

Not a year goes by without an update on the planet's decline (at our hand), wealth is only feeling more unstable and unequally distributed, a pandemic destroyed any hope of sociability for some, and social media does more harm than good when it "connects" people.

There's no true community, nothing to take pride in, there's hardly motivation for ambition or wealth. Hell, we grow up being told we'll be a generation of renters, because it's a statistical improbability than any of us will EVER afford a home without working 3 jobs into our grave.

I can't speak for America, but I know my government haven't made any real effort to prevent renter's from taking that news and slowly inflating rent costs each month.

I'm a part of the generation that is thought to deal with the broadest range of mental health concerns; however, I'm also part of the generation that's most likely to be told to "deal with it," or "grow up," by the people perpetuating our suffering, or the peers that fell victim to toxic hustle culture— enabling the shitty circumstances.

When you start adulthood with so many problems that directly impact your life, most of which come at no fault of your own, you'd hope for help in addressing those matters, but it never comes.

We're told we're lazy, we don't try hard enough, and we've got it easy (which is a demonstrable lie). How is it any surprise we became hopeless doomers? At some point you just get the idea that we were destined to fail.

Threats of War

Now we're told to be ready for World War 3 and I'm struggling to understand why. What values am I defending? Why should I die for a country that doesn't care about me?

Sure, Ukraine and Palestine are in shitty situations, but saying that doesn't require me to do anything. Though they demonstrate something: the government will risk our lives for money, and turn a blind eye to genocide if it suits them.

All that matters is that we're made to feel like our interests align. They don't represent us. They represent themselves.

Don't get me wrong, I don't support either conflict, and I sympathise with the aforementioned nations; however, I am not willing to die for them— I don't think you are. So is it even fair for us to bother complaining? It's not like diplomacy has done a thing so far.

Whether we're roped into a war or not, it doesn't feel like we'd have a choice.

Hobbies and Corporations

Normally I'd propose finding an outlet for everything. I'm not sure that's ideal anymore. Commonplace hobbies like gaming, sports, martial arts, reading, and art, they require 3 things: time, motivation, and effort.

Thanks to hustle culture, holding 3 jobs, running a drop shipping business, and abandoning any meaningful social life is considered just enough and reasonable. That doesn't leave time for personal hobbies, entertainment, or time to actually live. A life like that is no life at all. You're an animal operating on the exclusive goal of survival. You're alive, but you're not living.

Among those of us too physically or mentally scarred to work like our peers, we compassionately took to pen and paper, or software and devices, writing stories, drawing and animating worlds, or making music.

I fear that pocket of joy is getting smaller. AI image generation has already impacted artists, AI voice recreations are already being used in place of some voice actors, and we've all seen the AI voice covers for songs— claiming "you don't need to learn to sing." It didn't take long for me to see "generative AI" being proposed as a source for track samples and stems in music production.

Considering such things, it's hard to motivate yourself to put your work out there. You struggle to justify spending time creating anything, and you're probably not ready to put the effort into producing enough algorithm optimised works per day. After all, no one will see it. No one cares.

That's how it feels.

Social Media

Maybe we still have digital spaces? Really. Are cespools like Twitter spaces you can enjoy? Even Tumblr is quite detached, with small accounts struggling to get so much as a couple likes— nevermind a reblog, and god forbid you get a comment or DM.

That's minor though, it's the relationships that bother me. The ability to lock someone out of your life, within 5 seconds, for the slightest of perceived infractions. You're sensitive and a snowflake if you need boundaries, and you're "rude" and "mean" when you're pushed too far for not establishing them.

You can join a fandom or community and run into those issues, but do you really need more trouble? Ive hung around with furries since I was 13 or 14. It wasn't a furry that SA'd me, and I've never been groomed. But as a child online, I was labelled as a dog fucking groomer (at 15), because I was in a furry community discord server. I don't like to think about how that made the young adult owner of the server feel.

Social media is good for "satirical trolls," who take pleasure in hurting as many people as they can, and then claiming it's OK because they're joking, and you should've known. Is it really worth the effort for anyone else? You know, us "normal people," not bogged down by million strong fanbases, actively managing parasocial relationships and morally questionable stalking.

Closing Statements

I'm not entirely sure why I wrote this post. I guess I'm just another girl crying on the internet when I should save it for the therapy I can't actually afford.

I want to be hopeful, to feel like there's something attainable to desire, or even just things to look forward to. It's been a long time since I woke up and felt there was a good reason to be awake or even alive.

Thanks,

- The Girl That Doesn't Exist

[justsomemusingsandthoughts]

Now about season 3 of Bridgerton....some thought from a Greys Anatomy fan of the first hour cause I need to get it off my chest :)

I was really excited to see Polins story unfold even though I didn't watch Bridgerton before or read the books but I was swept up by the excitement on tiktok and got invested in their story.

But as soon as I heard Shona was involved I was like okayyyyyy, I gotta keep my expectations in check cause the women is not one to write healthy and lasting relationships and reasonable men who communicate well😬

Looking at how the season played out, I completely understand why so many people are disappointed cause there was so much potential wasted, so many scenes that could have made clear to the viewer what was going on in Colins head. I think I filled in the gaps in my mind but there are still some moments, some things he said and did that were almost character destroying, specially the comment about the entrapment, cause dude, she didn't even know what sex was🙄 Also, not even trying to have a converation with her about why LW started and has such significance to her was not sth Colin would do.

And that's the crux of why I think for many die hard fans, the season was a let down. They didn't show any true discussions or enough moments of passion alongside the argument cause in truth, there was no time with all the unnecessary side plots and so few episodes. If you saw the season you know, I won't list them all but I will say they better put a proper Polin side story and spicy scene in Ben's season cause the amount of pointless threesomes I had to skip through is almost offensive, especially cause it should be clear people want intimate scenes of the main couple😮‍💨

But looking at all of it considering this show is part of Shondaland, I am not the least bit surprised. The number of downright character assasinations I watched on Grey's (and other shows of hers) after over a decade watching the development of some of them is kinda ridiculous. The number of ruined relationships and the horrible ways most of them were ruined (I almost cannot believe I'm saying this now but thank god they killed off Derek before completely undoing who he actually was and what Meredith meant to him😭).

Untimately, Shonda loves the drama and the angst and very clearly doesn't think there is much entertainment value in showing happy couples resolving their issues in a healthy way. If you watch a project she's involved in, you gotta be prepared for the couple to not make it and in that way, Bridgerton fans are rather lucky considering no matter how the seasons play out, it's gonna end with a happy couple that's not gonna split up again.

She also was never gonna just take books and keep to the narrative cause I don't believe that would be any fun to her. Especially this season, since she has said that Pen is her favorite character. I was immediately thinking Colin will be taking a back seat and have moments viewers will hate him for to have Pen in the forefront individually.

I guess I'm gonna take away and rewatch the beautiful moments, even some of the angsty ones and wait for what little side plots Polin will have in future seasons. I don't believe I will watch the entirety of future seasons cause I'm not interested to be disappointed by Shonda Rhimes' story telling anymore. Been there done that😂

But my little obsession with Polin was still worth it cause they're just an amazing fictional couple and I might just read their book now☺️

And I have definitely found a new actress to follow along for her future roles cause Nicola is just amazing as an actress and as a person🥰

(Also find it deeply offensive to make an audience wait for 2 years (!!!) for 8 episodes but that's for another day😅)

[naanima]

I'm gonna vent (in dot point form) about all the podcasters of other teams criticising the Karlsson trade as if the Pens fans DOESN'T realise what a GAMBLE/RISK it is.

Our coach couldn't trust Casey DeSmith as backup goalie that we had to play our injured GOALIE JARRY. So no, DeSmith was NOT good for us.

We KNOW Jarry is our fragile omega princess who is VERY breakable. WHY DO YOU THINK WE HAVE 4/5 GOALIES?! I would not be surprised if we somehow end up playing ALL our goalies in the up coming season/post-season. Our luck is just that shit.

OUR DEFENCE IS NOT REALLY DEFENSIVE - Yes, we are AWARE OF THIS. Even with Karlsson we are gonna be OFFENSIVE DEFENSIVE. WE KNOW THIS. WE WILL DIE OR LIVE BY THE GRACE OF TRISTAN JARRY (and the other 3/4 goalies). Or by COMPLETELY destroying the other team's goalie and outscoring them. Unlikely but hilarious bcos you know the Pens are gonna fucking try this.

SULLY'S PHILOSOPHY SEEMS TO BE OFFENSIVE FORECHECKING ANYWAYS. Gods, we are gonna be sacrificing our goalies on our offensive forechecking play from EVERY PLAYER.

We are younger, you fuckers. So fuck you assholes. And our old men core still fucking played better than 90% of your teams' top player last season. Suck on it.

OUR BOTTOM 6 IS BETTER with the new acquisitions! Our top lines are also better with new bits! We have MORE goalies. We are soooooo much better than what we were in April of this year.

We were desperate to offload Granlund, DeSmith and Petry. If they bounce back next year for another team - GOOD FOR THEM. But they did NOT work for the Pens! I literally fell on my knees and prayed my thanks to the hockey gods - the Witch Kyle Dubas at accomplishing this.

NO. SIDNEY CROSBY WILL NEVER PLAY FOR ANOTHER NHL TEAM. Sid understands his legacy of being the captain & playing for ONE team throughout his long & storied career. He WANTS to retire as a Penguin.

We UNDERSTAND that once Sid & Geno retires that we are most likely facing a rebuild/drop off the cliff. But if they actually paid attention (which most of them haven't), we also got two to three young prospects in our system. And Dubas is literally REBUILDING our AHL team so that these prospects can mature in a winning environment and develop the best they can. What I'm saying is that the cliff drop might not be as steep as everyone thinks.

We understand the upcoming season won't be INSTANT success. Hell, it is probably gonna be a hot mess till like January. But by the gods it will be entertaining as we stumble around like feral kittens trying to figure out how to walk and kill things. And yes, we also know we most likely won't win the Cup next year. But we should be better. And who the fuck even knows what Sidney Crosby can will into existence.

We have one of the MOST attractive d-core. This is not relevant to this convo but should be HIGHLIGHTED at all times. If Karlsson grows out his hair we can have like 3 vampires on the team.

In conclusion, WE ARE NOW YOUNGER, MORE ATTRACTIVE, and fully realise it will be a fucking dumpster fire for like a third of the season. But it will be FUN! AND for the fire time in years we have REAL HOPE. And the knowledge that we are NOT going to waste the final years of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang.

ETA: WE KNOW THIS IS RECKLESS AND CAN BLOW UP IN OUR FACES. BUT FUCK IT. SIDNEY CROSBY DESERVES THIS. WE FUCKING DESERVES THIS.

[baek-at-it-again95]

Walk The Plank (KHJ x fem reader)

Chapter 17: Desire

You had grown up hearing tales about the infamous pirate crew ATEEZ—the fearless, power-hungry men that roamed the seas in search of the most valuable treasure they could lay their hands on. You almost didn’t believe the stories your mother had told you as a child...not until you wound up on their ship  

Warnings for this chapter: None? A lot of vulnerability? Some kissing and some crying...I couldn’t hold myself back lol

A/N: We are approaching the end! 🥹😭 I'm so attached...I wish I could just continue this story forever. I've been writing this one for a long time now! I have a Seonghwa fic in the works so hopefully that will be out soon <3 🤧 I love you all so much and I am truly so grateful! Also, happy San day!!!

Previous: Chapter 16, Masterlist

Chapter 17: Desire

How are you going to tell them that you need to destroy it...

You hadn't noticed until now how well you handled the jump back to your universe. You had not experienced difficulty breathing or feelings of overwhelming panic. Perhaps you've finally adapted to using your ability. You have used the Cromer frequently enough to begin understanding it. Unfortunately, now that you've accomplished that, you have to get rid of it.

You sigh as Jongho places his hand on your shoulder, tearing your gaze away from the Cromer. You'll tell them soon...you just want to enjoy your moment with your crewmates.   

"Y/N, I am so happy to see you," Jongho says.

"I am happy to see you too, Jong." You smile, nudging him. "I was only away for two days, but it felt like an eternity without you all." Jongho's eyebrows scrunch together.

"Two days?"

"What, was it three?" you question.

"Y/N, you were gone for eight dreadful days and nights," Yunho says.

"What?" you exclaim.

"Time must move a bit differently in the world you were in. Fascinating," Seonghwa says.

"Not fascinating. Dreadful," Yunho repeats.

"That did not happen the first time, did it?" 

"No, you were gone for mere minutes the first time," Seonghwa states.

"Y/N, may I have a word with you?" Hongjoong interrupts.

"Yes, actually there was something I needed to discuss with you as well." He nods, placing his right hand at the small of your back to guide you. You enter his cabin and carefully shut the door behind you. It has become your safe place, really.

"Joong I—"

"Y/N." He takes your face in his hands again, the side of his cool metal hook pressing into your soft cheek. "I just needed a moment with you. I cannot even begin to imagine what you have been through. It must be overwhelming."

"You know I can handle myself, Joong." You give him an assuring smile. He pulls you into a hug, this time much calmer than before. You melt into his arms, your hands grabbing the fur of his coat tightly. As turn your head to the side in your embrace, you catch a glimpse of the absolute chaos on his desk.

It was bad before, but this? More papers and maps than you have seen in your lifetime are sprawled across the table, journals and pens and navigation tools littered everywhere. "Oh my," you say quietly, leaving his hold to get closer to the desk.

"It was difficult trying to research a way to get to you," he explains. "We are so relieved you were able to get back here yourself." You pick up a familiar journal opened on the desk. As you scan over it, you notice it's the story you had written detailing how you ended up on their ship. A small piece of paper falls from the journal and back onto the desk. In black ink, there are sketches of you. One is a picture of you reading a book, and another smaller one is of you with your hair ribbon. 

"Did you draw these?" you ask him, taking the paper to examine it closer.

"Yes," he mumbles. "You were all I could think about, Y/N." You blink back some sudden tears and quickly set down the paper before you can ruin it. "I will not let you out of my sight again." This time, you take his face in your hands. 

"I know, Joong," you whisper. "I know." You pull him into a quick, gentle kiss. 

As you pull away, you see his eyebrows are scrunched with worry, and you trace your fingers over his features. Your fingertips caress his chin, his cheek bone, and eventually, his eye patch. The tips of your fingers trace the band above his ear, where you slide your finger beneath it. Hongjoong's jaw seems to clench at this, but he does not stop you. Still, you don't wish to pressure him. You love him, whether you see all of him or not. You begin to lower your hand, but he takes it, placing it right back where it was. He nods as you look at him with surprise. With a small smile, you pull at the strap and lift it ever so carefully. 

Once you remove the leather and set it aside, you take in his face. You had been expecting some kind of scar...perhaps even no eye at all. But what you find is that his iris and pupil are clouded. Hongjoong avoids looking at you for the first time ever. 

"You are beautiful, Hongjoong." He meets your eyes, surprise etched across his features. You give him an assuring smile.

"I have never thought so. I was cursed a long time ago, after making a foolish deal with someone I thought I could trust. They took my sight." He sighs, pausing. "It is rare to encounter those that use magic for good anymore." 

"You are still you, Hongjoong. Nothing less. You are beautiful, regardless." The man in front of you suddenly closes the small distance between you, desperately kissing you as if you would be swept away any moment. You place your arms behind his neck and his strong arms wrap around your waist, holding you protectively. You feel safe and warm in his embrace. The moment is blissful, and you wish he would never let go. But when you break for air, you remember why you agreed to have a word with him in the first place. 

"Hongjoong, perhaps it is not the right time," you say breathlessly. "Not that I wish to stop this...just remember that I have something to tell you."

"Yes, darling. What is it?" You bite the inside of your cheek, nervous about how he might react.

"It is about the Cromer," you start. He tilts his head.

"What about it, Y/N? You can tell me." 

"I was told that we should destroy it."

"Destroy it?" Hongjoong repeats, looking at you as if you are not quite serious. "Who told you that?"

"You—the other Hongjoong. He explained that once we rid ourselves of it, the Guardians will not be able to locate us as easily, if at all. It was upsetting to hear, but it does seem like the best thing to do to keep each of us safe. We have all experienced some kind of danger with it, Joong." Hongjoong looks at you with an unreadable expression, and you shift nervously. "Please say something," you whisper. 

"Y/N, think about what you are saying. We have put infinite time, energy, and resources towards getting this artifact. To give it up is mad!"

"But if we do not have it, the Guardians cannot find us. They cannot take anyone. They cannot take me!" Your voice cracks, and your vision becomes blurry as tears well in your eyes for what feels like the hundredth time that night. "I just want to be with you, Joong. It is difficult to give up something that we searched so hard for but you are more important to me." You're crying harder now, your hands trembling at your sides as you grip the fabric of your skirt tightly. "I do not care about magic. I do not care about treasure. I found what I want and it is you!" you exclaim. You lower your gaze, rubbing your eyes with the back of your hand and watching as your tear drops hit the floor pitifully. 

Hongjoong is then right in front of you, lifting your chin gently. "I love you, Y/N." You look at him in awe, a bit taken back. "I ask that you forgive me for not understanding at first. I see why this decision must be made." He wipes your tears with his thumb, looking at you with all the care in the world. "Do not cry, darling. It will be alright." You can't bring yourself to speak, only nod at him. 

Hongjoong places a kiss to your forehead before turning to his desk. You watch as he picks up his eyepatch and you hurry over, taking it from him to help him put it back on. 

"I love you too, Hongjoong."

*** 

You stay in the cabin until the captain is done explaining the situation to the crew. Not wanting to witness their reactions to the news, you pace around in circles until they are done. You are feeling a bit tired, but you'll manage. "Y/N!" Mingi's deep voice calls you from outside.

You take a deep breath and step out into the moonlight, your favorite people gathered closely.

"Yes?"

Yeosang hands you the Cromer. "Will you do the honors, my lady?" 

"Are you sure we should not just toss it overboard?" Yunho asks. 

"We could, but think about the suffering of those who might find it in the future," Jongho says. 

"I could live with that," Wooyoung chimes in. 

"Silence," Hongjoong demands. "Go ahead, Y/N." You stare at the hourglass, the gold gleaming under the bright full moon. This is it. This is a decision for the better. With a heavy heart, you raise the fragile object above your head and drop it to the ground. Fragments of glass shoot outward like stars across the deck. Your father's entire life of research, shattered at your feet. Your captain's research. The guilt hurts, but the thought of being separated again from everyone that you have come to love in this world...that hurts more.

You watch in silence as Hongjoong pulls his hook through the dented gold frame and swings it overboard. Seeing it feels unreal. It makes you think of the other Hongjoong, and what he must be doing. Is he safe too? You hope everything works out for him. 

Exhaustion hits you hard out of nowhere, and you reach out to San beside you. It seems like your travel did have an effect on you, just not immediately. 

"Woah there." San picks you up, his arm tucked behind your knees.

"Tired already, princess?" Wooyoung asks, heading for the crew's quarters and motioning for San to follow. "You're out before we even got to start drinking." He giggles. Your eyelids feel heavy, closing before you can manage a response.

"Be careful with her," you hear Hongjoong warn.

"Got it, Captain!" San says, his footsteps heavy on the steps leading below deck. 

Taglist: @foxinnie8 <3

[bellysoupset]

OKAY. Hi. Im finally free for long long enough to come chat.

I have so much stuff to say I literally went through your blog down to my ask where you said COME BACK HERE (lmaoo) and made a whole list in my notes app so that i don’t forget anything

(dw im gonna send a bunch of separate asks so that it doesn’t clog up your whole dash)

first of all, sounds like we have the same handwriting??? i was thinking oh mines closest to leo + bella and then i read the tags and we have the exact same traits?? wtf. so cool. also jon and luke having rich kid handwriting is so funny.

oohhh and bella??? 😳😳😳 like i KNOW (i think) she isn’t pregnant because you’ve said that’s not a plot you want to pursue rn. but alsoo what the hell. even if she isn’t, i can’t wait to read about her and luke talking about it.

(speaking of bell and luke talking, i’ve been LOVING the little snippets of them just hanging out and vibing) (bella crying for leo was so insanely sweet btw, she’s such a sweetheart) (also scary) (hot) (i’m getting off track)

loved the picking up the car fic so much!! jon and luke are soooo sibling coded it’s insane. also luke revving the car and zooming past them was so hot. and jonah’s “crush them”?? they’re BROTHERS!!!! i love reading stories of your characters just being idiots together <3

and bella going into that shop looking all sweet just to Destroy that old man was sooo funny. she’s so hot?? 🍄

okayy so 1. forgot to mention in the last ask : luke is so stupidly protective of bella lmfao. him being mad at leo for just Being There was so funny 2. jon being the baby of the group is one of my favourite things about him <3 he’s baby 🩷 3. the boxing class fic is soo cool. i love jonah and bella’s interactions!! need to see more of them together! they’re so perfectly bitchy with each other. also did i ask for something similar AGES ago or did i just think about it and forget to actually say anything? 4. jonah and leo’s reunion was soooo cute!!!i adore clingy jonah. (speaking of, i was re reading the fic where jonah gets sick at a medical convention with wendy and gets back home and is all bossy about cuddling leo, and it’s SO. CUTE.) and then finally leo getting sick was **chefs kiss** (ps. the supporting your partners forehead while they puke thing is so hot. who said that.) and jonah!! missing rubbing leo’s back as he throws up!! Sap. Peak simp behaviour fr. Didn’t realise there was competition to Luke for the Pathetic Simp title. 🍄

Hi there 🍄!!! How are you? Missing you loads, I hope life is treating you kindly, even if busy!

God, my handwriting is a mess, I was always the kid who showed up to class with one (1) singular black pen and no patience. Do you also do the Leo thing of saving up pages?

Bell definitely wasn't pregnant, but it was a fun time getting asks begging her not to be 😭😭 And yeah, she loves her little found family so much!! All of them, they're her home and she's a tough cookie, but she hates to see them hurting!

Luke is Golden Retriever coded in every sense of the word. Friendly and goofy and loud, but super protective.

I really do need to write more of the Bitchy Group, which in my head is Jon, Wen, Bell and now... Max. For clarification, Leo is hella bitchy but to me he's just the bitchy part of the trio that is Luke/Vin/Leo 🙈 Does this make any sense?

I'm looking forward to introducing Max to the group and what new units mind come up

Now. Men were made to do two things: simp and be queasy. As far as I was told 😎

[aran-ryan-herigate-posts]

Aran Ryan fanbase headcanons -RESULTS-

Finally! These are the results! I hope you had fun doing that! Comment or repost with your opinion, memes, drawings about it! See ya next survey!

Mod LL

What do you think about Aran Ryan?

35%: The comic relief of Punch Out wii: he can be crazy and stuff but he makes you laugh hard

35%: Even if he can act tough, he is also a funny guy

Can Aran have romantic relationships?

45%: Yes, and oddly he doesn't "cheat" in this filed!

Are Aran Ryan from the Wii and Aran Ryan from the SNES the same person?

40%: Yes, Snes! Aran was him before snapping

Does Aran have a sister?

Yep! Baby sister named Daisy who plays Rugby

i'd like to think so! i imagine she's his little sister for some reason

He has multiple younger sisters

Yes, one younger sister

He must have one.

she has one to me, a younger one :3

YES!

Yes, and an older sister at it

Yes, and I like to think she's a lot younger than him for full big bro energy. She's just as crazy as him, though.

Yes. She hits harder than you, boy!

Yes!

yes, and a brother. he’s the eldest of three children

Ye

yeah

Yes, I’m thinking she’d be about 9 to 12? I like Headcannoning that Arans sister would stay up at night until aran comes home from the pub to see if he’s okay 👍

Ermmm of course?

yes, a younger one

Yes

Yes!

Yes, I think I gave her the name Aisling in my hcs

Why is Aran "obsessed" with cheeseburger? H3talia cannot be a "real" answer!!! (But you can write it if ya want lol)

Just finds it a fun insult for the Americans but also he had one cheeseburger and it was the shittest one so he uses to call someone shit

oh i just assumed it was a dig at little mac being american? because haha america and burgers and all that. is he obsessed with them? interesting...

Not obsessed, but definitely likes them

He came to America and first food was cheeseburgers.

Stereotypes.

i know what u did here (its me *** LMAO) he just likes to bully mac >:)

YES!!!

Simple, Little Mac is called Little Mac, and McDonald's has the Big Mac. He connected the dots and now it's his most iconic line.

He…likes cheeseburgers? Yum yum!

I wouldn’t say he’s obsessed per say, just ragging on American’s with the stereotype that we all just eat junk food. (I also headcanon that he actually likes cheeseburgers, but tries not to let anyone see him eat them.)

idk

MACdonalds (funny)

that’s what he thinks of the us

I’d think that’s like his #1 insult of all time, either calling them a legitimate cheeseburger, or telling them they hit as hard as a cheeseburger being thrown as someone

Big Mac Little Mac haha get it

no, but why's that an answer???

He gets hungry a lot ):

Wait has someone actually thought Hetalia was a genuine answer or something this is extremely worrying

Teehee funny American joke

About you! What is your main fandom?

PUNCH OUT!! :D

it is a mystery...

punch out

Punch out and Super Mario

tekken, sailor moon, tomb raider aside from po

Punch-Out!!

Currently Pokemon, but feel free to ask me about Punch Out!!

Punch out at the present moment.

I have many but it’s def the Beatles. Currently it’s Ted Lasso

I started out in the FNAF fandom as a kid and it’s had a ton to do with me and my art since lol.

currently punch-out lol

Super pumch iut

punch-out!! and k-pop

PUNCH OUT OFC

Team Fortress 2 teehee

currently my main fandom is super mario!!

Touhou!!!

PO!!

Either Puyo Puyo or Pokémon

Is Aran your fav one from PO and in general of all the fandoms you are in?

66,7%: No, only in PO

Silly question: why does Aran draw with a paintbrush???? Why didn't he use a pen or something like a normal person? Or just destroy Little Mac like Don Flamenco did?

30%: Because he has always weird stuff with him

Did Aran finish school?

No but he went back to school as a Mature Student and is doing some study

hmm... maybe. (cop-out answer lol)

Nope, only finished up to middle school

No,

Pretty sure he did, but it was torture for him:

good question, maybe he did "ok"

Somehow yes

Probably

I think so. He used to be sane until he realized the potential for cheating there was in the WVBA

Maybe

Assuming that him and SNES are the same person, I think he did but it was very rocky due to growing teen angst because of the bullying he faced.

he probably finished high school

He seems like the type of person to draw comically bad stick figure portraits so no

he did because of his mama

He’d probably drop out, or get expelled for beating up too many people, I guess his mum just didn’t look for anymore schools after that

prob not, maybe homeschooled?

Lel yeah

Yes but he didn't care much for it, and he hardly thinks back to it as well.

Yeah, had no interest in college though

Your Aran Ryan OTP is...

40%: Aran Ryan x canon

Which are Aran's friends inside the WVBA? (OCs are good too)

Disco, Don, Hugger, Tiger, Mac, Bull and Soda

i honestly don't think he'd consider any of them his friends. he's very hard to get close to that way (not IMPOSSIBLE but... hard)

The entire world circuit and masked muscle at least

Soda (I ship him and Aran), Tiger, Bald the Bull and SMM.

SP is his good drinking buddy! But guess that's about it.

narcis is not only his bf in my canon but also his BFF, other than that disco and maybe heike, some fellas he met in ireland-

Mad clown and Masked Musle

Soda Popinski, Some of my OCs (Ikari (I haven't talked about her), Polar (mischief makers, haven't talked about her), Playmaker (would record pranks/prank each other))

Glass Joe, Piston Hondo, maybe Don Flamenco and Carmen, maybe Little Mac

Narcis (even more than), Don, Disco, Heike, Mr. Sandman, I’d even say he’s friendly with Mac too.

My mind flip flops between him either being good friends with some of the boxers or the other boxers warning everyone else that he’s a dangerous nutcase. (He can be, but it’s not his entire personality.)

don flamenco (rivals to lovers hehe), piston hondo, great tiger, soda popinski (drinking buddies lol)

I think aran and heilke could be friends

quite literally everyone in the wvba lmao

Hes definitely got lads outside of the WVBA but if we’re talking just inside the WVBA, I’ve got a feeling that hardly anymore wants to mess or talk with Aran but if I had to choose I’d probably say Don Flamenco, they fought eachother before so I guess they spoke more after that. Don wouldn’t really be the one to start a conversation with him at all but Aran can start up a conversation, by stealing his toupee and making him run room to room to get it making sure to let everyone see as Don chases after him, especially letting Carmen see👍

excluding ships, soda would be the closest, tho he's more of a "when things go wrong, call him" type guy. even if aran doesn't admit it, he's maybe the closest he's got to a friend. see below

Little Mac, Soda Popinski, somehow the ref

Everyone stays at least 5 feet away from him because he has rabies and he nearly bit a guy once. (I feel like he's alone by choice)

I imagine the world circuit is among his closest friends just because they’re around each other a lot, but I’m he has buddies he used to box with back in Ireland (I’d also say his sister but they grew up together so it’s bit of a given)

Can Aran Ryan have friends?

35%: Yes, but his hot head can be problematic

Does Aran have hobbies outside boxing?

Art, Rugby and Horse Riding!

probably, but good luck getting him to share what they are lol

Yes! He enjoys sculpting and painting as well as dancing and making music among other things

Ice skating and art

Drawing. I'd imagine he adores biking too.

being a bitch, motorbiking and getting caught driving too fast, pub shenanigans, pulling pranks at people he doesnt like or likes

Drawing and playing the eletric guitar

Maybe, one I can think of is tinkering (Think of him making new things to help him win)

Art, harmless pranks, rubik's cube speed solving

I can see him being into art like painting and drawing.

I definitely thinks he likes small things like video games and movies.

yes, i hc that he’s sort of an artist

not sure?

I’d think he definitely does Hurling, and is absolutely amazing at it, he doesn’t usually brag about it but does bring it up whenever he can

bar hopping. & fighting. usually one after the other

Art, gardening, punching and biting random things to see what would happen, drinking

Yes, but I feel like he keeps most of them to himself.

Traditional Irish dancing (he just pulls that shit out during title defense), he also probably draws and maybe plays an instrument

Can being bullied during school (for his name and for his mother), the cause of Aran's angry behaviour?

50% : yes

50%: sorta

Why did he started to cheat in your opinion?

42,1%: He started to cheat as everyone was "doing that" in his opinion

[whoregaylorenzo]

DANORGE

this is from the ship ask game but I decided to make this it's own post bc danorge is special okay? okay.

first of all, an ideal daniel ship for me is always him being a perfect babygirl and being treated accordingly. just like I would. he's my country wife, my baby boy, my hot piece of ass and he needs to know is. now, george is the perfect man for this.

the dynamic

I'm gonna be honest, this ship sort of snuck up on me, I didn't expect it to take off quite as much? like, I know Daniel likes the young guys, bc he likes fucking around and fucking with them bc they think he's fun and look up to him you know? he likes the peer pressure. and george didn't seem the kind of guy to be that subjectible to this bc he's always been very focused, correct, driven, etc. although as I got to know him a bit better I realised he does like some shenanigans (eurotruck with charles you will always be famous.).

anyway, I think one of the reasons why their friendship grew so well is that george is so incredibly earnest in his admiration of the people around him, and fiercely loyal. I think george would never be that guy who has to act cool around his friends. he's the type of guy to hype his friends up to others, and that's what he does with Daniel. like that post that goes sth like hyping my boyfriend up before he enters a room like you better clap for my specialest little boy. that's literally george with daniel. that's his babygirl, his country wife.

now, I think that perhaps daniel liked the way george engaged with his banter from early on, like when he asked for his merch, I mean that was still fanboy ish behaviour, but more recently, when Dan struggled, he was so so loyal and always defending Daniel to the press, I think he really did become a close friend. emotional support brit. like I said, george is really really loyal, you can see that in his other relationships with drivers (alex and lewis mainly) and it seems like he's really a safe person for daniel. I mean look how danny clings to him. adorable. (sth sth the child in me is safe with you etc). I just love seeing how genuinely at ease dan seems in every interaction with george..

important moments

I already put in some links up there but doing a collection of some more here.

all the media pen interactions are gold: x / x / x / x / x / x / x

hyping his boy up: x / x / x / x / x / (also remember the time he said to Lando 'if you're curious about winning just ask Danny' bc I still think he deserves a good * for that. lova ya georgie)

btw here's a good danorge post of some moments as well

the helmet swap....tears man, tears....

just general cuteness and shenanigans: x / x (recent addition) / x / x / x / x / x / x / x / x / x / x / x / x / x / x / x / x / x

rpf pairing

okay soo actually AGES ago, me and jay @dnfstrategist used to talk about this danorge au that was like, george being a business/law student with daniel as his silly, artsy/sporty boyfriend (I don't quite remember, we definitely need to revisit that) and I am still gagging for an AU like that. like them as a couple? so so loyal to eachother, enjoying all the shenanigans, george the strong dependable one wanting to praise and spoil his bf always, daniel so fond and happy and at ease with george...bragging about his smart successful husband...they are marriage for life material fr

they have SO much potential it makes me sad that there is so little danorge writers out there.... there's mainly a few little smutty fics (which is great ofc!) and then one longfic which....oh boy I tell you, def a big big rec for this but be careful it absolutely destroyed me but such amazing writing fr fr.

and I think that's all for now! if I think of more stuff I'll add it later but I think this is it...if u made it all the way here thank u for ur attention! and anon I hope this makes up for the wait <3

[paradoxcase]

@longroadstonowhere:

well, speaking for myself, i feel i would definitely have a phantom limb feeling if i switched to never wearing glasses again (i dont wear contacts so i don’t have great proof for this, but i have worn prescription snorkeling goggles that let me see but didn’t sit on my nose the same way as glasses and so created that sensation)

Hmm, I guess it may vary from person to person, then, or possibly vary depending on whether you've ever worn contacts. The first time I switched to contacts was over 20 years ago so I no longer remember what it was like the first time. I'm guessing contacts may not actually exist in the Nine Houses

@racefortheironthrone:

Regarding the tech issue - it's not just what they know, but also what's available and what they can afford. Nona/Pyrrha/CamPal are pretty strapped for cash because BOE doesn't give them very much, and the New Rho economy is doing very badly (food and other necessities are expensive and not always available, which suggests supply issues; likewise, the instability of employment and the lack of public services suggests that there are also problems with demand as well).

So there may well be more advanced tech than Cam's casette recorder, but it might not be available in New Rho markets or at prices that they can afford for non-essential items.

I mean, it kind of depends on why there are food shortages. Food shortages could just be the result of war rationing - they said that you could technically acquire poor-quality meat via the black market, which indicates to me that it is available, it's just not allowed to be sold right now, probably due to rationing. Other things than food might be rationed, but I don't think our phones at least are made of things that would likely be rationed in that context, but who knows what kinds of devices they have after 10,000 years, or even what the prices of those things would be. Things that would be considered incredibly high tech much less than even 1000 years ago are now dirt cheap and no one has to worry about being able to afford them (ballpoint pens, for example). After 10,000 years I would expect even more stuff like that

You can technically, right now, still buy cassette tape recorders for relatively cheap, but I have wonder how true that would still be if Earth was destroyed and all of the companies that are still producing cassette tape stuff were destroyed along with it - there's an incentive for companies that have always sold cassette tape stuff to continue doing that, but is there an incentive for brand new companies to start manufacturing and selling cassette tape stuff? It seems like a lot of older technology might get left behind permanently if something like that happened. Also, like, currently a cassette tape recorder is not in fact considered a low cost alternative to using a phone to record something even though it's technically cheaper than a phone, a) because of the general difficulty in getting and maintaining something that can play cassette tapes, and b) because smartphones are a basic necessity now in most places and you need one anyway, and they are all able to record video, so I think you probably wouldn't save money anyway

@eye-lantern:

Gideon did fight and kill heralds. She also lost a thumb. And got her intestins ripped out. And her skull smashed. And died at least 3 times. While in an unfamiliar body but also a body who's tendons could rip and recover in the same movement, and did not need to breath. Hect could kill one or two. But as much as she is a beast she would die.

That's true, but it seems like Palamedes and Camilla may have achieved Lyctorhood in the same way G1deon and Pyrrha did, and thus they would have the same advantages that Gideon had

@wellhappybirthdaytomeiguess:

I think part of the issue with the ‘tightness’ Nona mentions is that she is walking miles a day AND Cam has her always working out.

Ahh, if that's the case that makes sense

[alterrune]

Section 4: The Fold

Albert is waiting in his landscape, it’s waiting for one of you. Only one person can face him. He already knows your moves just from observing, and can predict your attacks. Good lu- *TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED”

TRU gave me an order, and I may not disobey them. TRU had installed “codes” that I wished would not be used on me. I have lost free will, and should I disobey a direct order, my memory would be wiped. I do not wish for that to happen. I’m sorry… but I must destroy you.

CHAPTER 3, ACT 4: FOLDING THE FOLDER

SUPRISE! You thought this would never come out, did you? I told you I'd do it eventually, and now's the time! Enjoy!

Who's gonna do this, then?

...I'll do it. He's observed you guys longer than he has for me. He doesn't know all my tricks.

Okay. Good luck, Kyle.

(I step into the area, and the door closes behind me...and I immediately dodge something that lunged at me!)

HOW DO YOU LIKE MY LITTLE HELPER, ALTER?

(Albert walks up to me, and immediately looks in disbelief at who he's seeing.)

WAIT...KYLE? YOU ARE THE ONE WHO'S GOING TO FIGHT ME AND MY HELPER?

Yeah. You don't know all of my moves yet, you sicko.

FINE. I EXPECTED ALTER TO BE THE ONE TO FIGHT US, BUT NO MATTER. IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO DIE, KYLE GIBBONS.

(Albert quickly lunges at me, but I manage to jump out of the way in the nick of time. Before he can attack me again, I quickly grab Storyteller and---)

I DON'T THINK SO.

(Albert suddenly teleports in front of me, grabs my Storyteller fountain pen, and snaps it in half.)

OH DEAR, WHAT WILL YOU DO WITHOUT YOUR POWERS? GIVE UP, THAT'S WHAT.

(However, what Albert didn't realize was that I planned for this. What he just broke was actually a REGULAR fountain pen that was made to look like Storyteller. Me and Alter made some decoys for occasions like this.)

WILL YOU GIVE UP NOW, OR---

TAKE THIS!!!

(I quickly use a gadget that I wrote in using the words "TRU Mind-Controller Code Override Gadget" on Albert's lackey. He suddenly comes to his senses.)

Whoa, thanks for freeing me, pal. Now, lets take out Albert.

With pleasure.

(We quickly start wailing on Albert, ending with him laying limply on the floor like a ragdoll. Eventually, I release the hatch on the door, letting the rest of the CSB in. With Albert laying on the floor, we quickly all aim our guns at him.)

WAIT! I CONCEDE, I CONCEDE! PLACE YOUR WEAPONS DOWN AND LET'S TALK THIS THROUGH!

Yeah, right. The minute we let our guards down, you'll just slip away again. Not happening.

We would love to kill you, but that'd be the easy way out. It's best to let GEOGRAM take care of this instead. However...

(We all shoot our guns at Albert's limbs, causing his hands and feet to go numb.)

...that doesn't mean we're gonna do nothing about you.

(A portal appears with a detainment vehicle going through it, and Aaron/Adam Schaffer and Laurence Burnway step out of the vehicle, quickly apprehending Albert.)

Good job, you guys! Albert should be of no harm to us any longer. By the way, we got someone along the way.

(Laurence displays a restrained Sarah Kelso in the back of the detainment vehicle, with a smug look on his face.)

By the way, Kelso, thanks for the knife in the back, by the way. Really appreciated how you didn't even try to conceal it, made my job easier.

(The two then throw Albert into the back of the vehicle, closing the doors afterwards.)

Nice to finally have those idiots behind bars.

For once, Adam, I agree. Let's head back, everyone!

(We quickly hop into the backseat of the detainment vehicle, and drive back to the GEOGRAM base for a successful debriefing.)

CHAPTER 3, ACT 4 COMPLETE!

🎇OPERATION: TWILIGHT GATE DONE!🎆

ACHIEVEMENT(S) UNLOCKED:

Quadruple Quarrel - "TWILIGHT GATE" SET

NO EPILOUGE FOUND